Chapter 3

It was right there. The exit. The escape. Kahlaya and Sanura were only a few feet away. Just a few more steps and they would have been out. Then it was only a matter of calling Shakir and riding away. But fate had a different path set out for them.

The light of the door was cut off and the hallway became darker. Kahlaya skidded to a halt when she saw why the light had diminished. Someone was standing in the doorway. Sanura ran into Kahlaya and almost lost her balance from the impact.

Kahlaya went to turn around, to try going the other way and finding a different exit, but someone was standing there too. They were trapped.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" the man at the exit said, walking farther into the hallway. He sounded like he was a teenager as well. Maybe eighteen.

Kahlaya pressed Sanura up against the wall and used her body as a shield for her.

"It looks like we've got a trespasser," replied the man farther into the temple. He was also slowly walking forward.

Kahlaya growled. "Don't come any closer and I might let you live."

The one by the door laughed. "You think that some girl can kill us? But I do like your bravery, no matter how foolish it is."

He stepped into the light of a torch and Kahlaya saw his face. She was right. He looked to be seventeen or eighteen. He had long, dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He was tall, muscular and was wearing a linen skirt, leaving his muscled chest bare.

She looked down the hall at the other teenager. It was light enough to see his head of tousled blond-brown hair and pale green eyes. His skin was paler than the others. He wore a linen skirt as well. He wasn't as muscular as Brown-Eyes, but he was still intimidating. He also looked younger than the others. About sixteen.

Kahlaya knew that her threat had been empty. Maybe if she hadn't walked all night and had eaten and drank something within the last ten hours she could have beaten them. But that wasn't the case. She was tired, hungry and thirsty. They could easily defeat her.

They were closing in on either side of her.

Instinctively, Kahlaya pulled her daggers out of her belt and got into a fighting position.

This time, both men laughed.

"You don't stand a chance," Brown-Eyes said.

"How do you know?" Kahlaya retorted.

They both drew their swords.

Green-Eyes looked up at Brown-Eyes. "I don't think we should kill her," he said. "She has spirit. Maybe we could use her for… something else."

Brown-Eyes chuckled and his eyes slid down the length of Kahlaya's body and back up again. He grinned. "I think you're right."

Kahlaya shuddered at the tone of his voice. Now she was really nervous. No, she was beyond nervous. She was scared. Fully and undoubtedly scared.

"Don't hurt her," she said through clenched teeth.

Brown-Eyes laughed again. "The girl? We were never going to hurt her. No, we had other plans for her."

Kahlaya narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Green-Eyes answered.

Both men smiled wickedly and then lunged toward Kahlaya. She spun quickly and ducked, pulling Sanura with her.

"Try to run," she whispered to the girl before pushing her away.

Kahlaya sprang to her feet and retaliated against the attackers. Blades swung everywhere and Kahlaya danced lightly around them. She focused on all her training and remembered everything Okpara had taught her. She'd swing at them whenever she had the chance and she managed to give Brown-Eyes a good slice on the thigh. Her energy was draining rapidly while theirs stayed high. Even a moment of distraction or her focus slipping could cost her life.

She knew that she would soon be out of energy and would lose, but she tried to keep her head clear and fight on. They were terrifyingly good at sword fighting and she received a deep cut on her upper arm. She gave them a few cuts as well, but never fatal or deep. Kahlaya kicked Green-Eyes' legs out from under him and he tumbled to the ground. She then elbowed Brown-Eyes in the nose when he lunged and missed. This was her chance. Kahlaya pulled Brown-Eyes' legs out from under him and he also fell onto the floor. She was about to plunge her dagger into his throat, when a loud gasp distracted her and Kahlaya looked up.

Another man had showed up and had grabbed a hold of Sanura. He held her with one arm across her throat. She was trying to claw at his arm, but his free hand was holding one of her wrists. Her scratches didn't bother him.

That one moment of distraction cost Kahlaya her victory. Green-Eyes had gotten to his feet and came up behind her. Before she could do anything, he hit her head with the hilt of his sword and she fell into a world of darkness.

Kahlaya opened her eyes to more darkness. It wasn't completely dark, she realized. There was a small window high up in the wall which allowed midday sunlight to slant into the musky room. She sat up. The motion was too quick and her head spun. She lifted her right arm to press against her aching head, but pain pierced her arm when she moved it. Using her left arm, Kahlaya felt the gash on her upper right arm.

It was deep. Very deep. It was still bleeding slightly and blood was running all the way from the cut to her hand. She was no longer wearing her robe. Only her white dress and her silver belt. Her daggers and armlets had been taken. She wasn't wearing her sandals anymore either. Her left hand flew to her neck. She sighed. Her wolf necklace was still there. So was something else. A metal collar had been placed around her neck. A chain attached to it and then bolted into the wall.

Kahlaya decided to worry about where she was and how to escape later. First, she needed to take care of her cut. Taking off her belt, Kahlaya wrapped the fabric as tightly as she could around the cut. The pressure made it hurt, but at least it would stop the bleeding. There was nothing she could do about the blood already on her arm. She looked at her Divine Guardian mark. At least the blood hid it from view.

Raising her eyes, Kahlaya studied her new surroundings. She was in a small room. It must have been somewhere underground because the walls and floor were dirt and the only window was almost touching the ceiling. There was a door on the opposite wall, directly across from her. Kahlaya heaved herself to her feet and tried to walk forward. The chain made her halt after just a few steps.

Angrily, she grabbed onto the cold metal with her good arm and tugged. It was no use. There was no way to pull the chain out of the wall. The only way to free if from her collar was with a key. Kahlaya sighed and sat down against the wall.

Licking her lips, she realized how thirsty she was. As if to challenge her need for water, her stomach growled. She also hadn't eaten in a while. Sighing, Kahlaya leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Strange, she didn't feel panicked or scared. She just felt… empty. It was an odd feeling. As if she just didn't need to worry about anything or even do anything. All she had to do was sit there and wait for either death to take her or for her captors to give her food and water. Another thing she felt was the strange sensation of having her life in someone else's hands. Usually, she could get food and water for herself and protect herself using her fighting skills, but, where she was now, it was someone else's decision to either bring her food and water or let her starve to death.

'Oh, well,' she thought, 'I wasn't going to have much of a life anyway. I may not be able to fulfill my duty, but was it really worth it?'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps outside the door. Her eyes snapped open and she leaned forward slightly. Someone pushed the door open a little and peered inside. Kahlaya could just make out the face of a young teenager. He was either fourteen or fifteen and definitely the youngest she had seen so far. He had light brown hair that fell into his face and reached his shoulders. His eyes were light blue.

When he saw that she was awake, the boy opened the door farther and came inside. He was carrying a tray with a cup and a few pieces of bread on it. Walking over to Kahlaya, he set the tray down in front of her and turned to leave. She watched him go. He was skinnier than the others and wasn't very tall. To her, he didn't fit in with his surroundings or the other teenagers there. He also seemed much more timid and didn't have the arrogance and confidence of the others.

When he closed the door behind him and she was alone again, Kahlaya looked down at the tray. Stale bread and warm water.

'Well, at least they're going to feed me.'

She took a sip of the water to wet her throat and mouth. Even though it was warm, it felt nice sliding down her throat. Then she took a bite of the bread. It was stale, but it satisfied her hunger. In just a few minutes, the bread and water were gone. She pushed the tray away and leaned against the wall again. Nothing much to do but sit there. She looked out the window, but all she could see was the clear blue sky, nothing of any interest.

A few minutes later, she heard more footsteps. This time, there was more than one pair. Kahlaya watched the door, waiting for it to be flung open. Sure enough, the door opened and a man stood in the doorway, more of them behind him. She recognized Brown-Eyes from before. An involuntary growl rumbled in her chest.

"Well, look who's awake," he sneered, walking into the room.

Kahlaya rose to her feet. She decided that he must be the leader. He had that sense of confidence and grandeur about him that the others didn't.

Four other teenagers walked in behind him. Kahlaya recognized Green-Eyes, Blue-Eyes and the one with the scar she had knocked out in Sanura's room. The fifth teenager was short and skinny and had hazel eyes. His hair was long and black.

"Where is Sanura?" Kahlaya hissed.

"Oh, she's fine." Brown-Eyes waved a hand. "You? Not so much."

Kahlaya growled. "Stay away from me."

"You aren't in much of a position to be making demands, Missy," Green-Eyes said.

Kahlaya stood her ground as they swarmed around her. Blue-Eyes didn't seem to want to join in on whatever they were planning and stayed behind the group. Green-Eyes had been right. There was nothing she could do about them. But she had to try. She owed it to herself and to Sanura.

When Brown-Eyes was close enough, she lunged forward and bit his forearm. He yelled in pain and shoved her away from him, ripping his skin in the process. He swore at her and lashed out his hand. Kahlaya tried to dodge it, but the chain prevented her. The back of his hand caught her on the side of her face and she fell to the ground, her cheek reddening.

All of the men laughed, except for Brown-Eyes. His arm was bleeding badly and he glared at her with such anger and hatred that she had to suppress a laugh. He was about to hit her again when the whole group hushed suddenly. They were all looking back, toward the door. Brown-Eyes stopped with his arm raised. Fear entered his eyes.

Kahlaya peered around him to what everyone else was looking at. There was someone standing in the doorway.

He was seventeen or eighteen, but Kahlaya leaned more towards the latter. His hair was bleached white from the sun and it fell in a tangled mess around his face, to his shoulders. Some fell into his eyes and covered his forehead. He had pale, cold, amethyst eyes. There was a scar under his right eye. It was a vertical line that had two horizontal lines passing through it. He was tall and muscular, wearing a navy blue kilt and a blue, wrap around belt. He also wore a red robe with cream lining.

Brown-Eyes turned slightly to look at him, his arm still raised. Kahlaya felt the newcomer's presence with such force that she shuddered. He radiated confidence and authority. She immediately knew that she had been wrong. Brown-Eyes wasn't the leader, Violet-Eyes was.

He didn't leave the doorway when he said: "Put your arm down, Tarik." He spoke with an accent and his voice was scarily menacing.

Brown-Eyes quickly lowered his arm.

"No one will touch this girl again. You will not even enter this room unless I permit it. Do you understand?"

Each head nodded.

"Now get out."

The boys all scurried across the room and passed through the doorway, taking care not to touch Violet-Eyes as they did. Before Tarik left, he gave Kahlaya an icy glare full of hatred and anger. He looked like he would have said: "This isn't over, girl."

Kahlaya watched them all leave until she was alone with Violet-Eyes. Fear seeped into her. If all of them had been afraid of this man, she knew that she definitely should be. She tried not to show it though. She decided that if he had saved her from the others, than he must not be about to hurt her.

He walked farther into the room until he was only a few feet away from her. Kahlaya looked into his eyes. They were cold and very unfriendly. She shuddered slightly.

He looked down at her without emotion, meeting her eyes for a second and then shifting his gaze to her wrapped-up, bloody arm.

Kahlaya narrowed her eyes. "What do you want with me?"

His eyes moved back to meet hers. "There isn't anything I want with you. But, since you have seen our faces and know where our hideout is, I can't just let you leave, now, can I?"

"What about Sanura?"

He laughed. "You don't know? By the way you came all the way here, I thought you were coming to save her because of why we took her."

Now Kahlaya was confused. What was he talking about?

"What do you mean?" Kahlaya asked. Her voice was little more than a whisper.

He laughed again. "Your little friend is more talented than you think she is."

Kahlaya still didn't know what he was talking about. Actually, his words just confused her more. She doubted that he'd tell her what he meant, so she asked a different question.

"Who are you?"

He narrowed his eyes. He took so long to answer that Kahlaya thought he wasn't going to. "My name is Bakura."

Bakura. Kahlaya had heard that name before. But where from? She searched her memory until she remembered when she had heard Okpara say it. Bakura, the King of Thieves. He was one of, if not the, most feared thief in Egypt.

Kahlaya swallowed the lump in her throat.

Bakura seemed amused by her reaction. "What's your name?"

She tried to compose herself. "I'm, uh.. my name is… it's… Kahlaya." Real good job at composing herself.

He nodded and folded his arms across his chest. Abruptly, he turned to leave.

"Wait! Um, thank you. For stopping those men," Kahlaya said to his back.

He stopped for a second, but didn't turn around. Without saying anything, he continued walking out the door and closed it behind him.

Kahlaya hadn't really liked being alone with him, but she decided that it had been better than being alone now. She sighed and leaned back against the wall. She closed her eyes and didn't even realize that she was falling asleep, Bakura haunting her dreams.